Community Highlights: Meet Annie Buedel of Bellabrow Microblading

Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Buedel.

Hi Annie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been a creative since I was born. Around middle school, I found interest in design work and makeup. After college (Pratt Institute, NC State College of Design), I worked in visual design and UX designing websites and app interfaces. At the same time, I also freelanced in makeup for special events and weddings.

I first saw microblading on the internet around 2015. At first, I just wanted to have it done, but then somewhere along the way it turned into me thinking “this is something I could actually do”. There wasn’t really anyone in the area doing it yet. There were some artists that did more traditional permanent makeup, but not the newer techniques that I was seeing online. I realized this business combined everything I loved in some way. I went down to Miami to learn the techniques and have been doing it ever since.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, it has been a pretty smooth road. Of course, it’s terrifying because launching anything new or unknown is scary. Entrepreneurship in general is scary. But I also never doubted if it was going to work. I knew it was going to because I didn’t really give myself a choice for it not to. At the time, my business was my peace from the rest of my life, so I put all my energy and resources into growing it. So far, it has all worked out for me really well.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Bellabrow Microblading?
I own Bellabrow Microblading in Durham, North Carolina, where I specialize in giving my clients natural-looking permanent brows. Imagine waking up with your brows already done! Yes, technically it is a brow tattoo which may seem scary, but trust me, the techniques have come a long way since the days of old-school permanent makeup! I offer microblading and machine shading and a combination of the two. These are both methods of depositing pigment in the skin to give your brows a natural fill and have them looking ready to go all the time. The pigment will fade out over time, but most client’s brows hang in there for a year or more before needing a boost.

I think what sets me apart is that I don’t give every client the same cookie-cutter brows. I definitely have a “style,” but I really try to understand what unique goals and desires each client has first. Then I work with that to figure out what the best options for them are. Some clients want barely there and natural, some want dramatic “Instagram brows”, and then I also get everything else in between. Every case is completely different, which keeps it interesting for me. At this point, I’m pretty confident I can deliver whatever someone may be looking for.

Something I’m still amazed by is the awesome clients I have. They will travel to me from near and far (other states far!) and tell me things like I’ve been watching you or following you for years, they tell me that they trust me, they tell me that they run into people around town that have had their brows done by me. It all sort of blows my mind still. My clients really make it all worth it.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think you can create your own “luck” if you make the best out of every situation thrown at you. I actually had a really terrible thing happen to me which changed my world overnight. It forced me to start over in a lot of ways, but it also left an opportunity for me to take another leap and open my business. It seems like it’s easier to take another huge risk when everything else is a disaster. It’s almost like “well everything else outside my control already fell apart. It can’t really get much worse than this.” But now, I’m grateful for that situation because even though it seemed like the worst thing in the world at the time, it probably would have taken a lot longer to open Bellabrow without me being forced out of my comfort zone.

Pricing:

• Microbladed Brows – $695
• Ombré Brows – $695
• Combination Brows – $695

Contact Info:

• Email: bellabrowmicroblading@gmail.com
• Website: www.bellabrowmicroblading.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellabrowmicroblading/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bellabrowmicroblading

Image Credits
Davonte Anthony Kat Barnes Annie Gray Buedel